Yes. This week the Campaign to Protect Rural England said that it wanted to see a national 30mph speed limit for all villages in England. In a survey of English county councils, it discovered that 70% did not set a 30mph limit as the norm. Many villages have no speed limit and cars can legally zoom through at 60mph. Buckinghamshire was the worst offender, with more than 100 villages falling into the category.

Research into the risk for pedestrians from speeding traffic suggests that reducing speed is a good idea in terms of pedestrian safety. Someone hit by a car travelling at 20mph has a 90% chance of surviving, while at 40mph this is reduced to just 10%. A drop in average traffic speeds of just 1mph would reduce injury accidents by 5% and fatalities by 7%, according to a Department for Transport road speed review. The slower you are travelling, the more time you have to react and brake in an emergency.

But speed limits don't necessarily stop people from speeding. Department for Transport statistics from 2004 show that 53% of motorists exceeded the speed limit on 30mph roads, with a quarter of these travelling faster than 35mph. Around 700 pedestrians are killed and more than 7,000 seriously injured on British roads each year. Speed limits will only help to save lives if people obey them.